|
Forwardcharm |
 |
Latest News 13 / 05 / 2012 30 / 04 / 2012 23 / 04 / 2012 22 / 04 / 2012 15 / 04 / 2012 15 / 04 / 2012 02 / 04 / 2012 01 / 04 / 2012 28 / 03 / 2012 25 / 03 / 2012 18 / 03 / 2012 15 / 03 / 2012 13 / 03 / 2012 05 / 03 / 2012 23 / 02 / 2012 14 / 02 / 2012 13 / 02 / 2012 12 / 02 / 2012 23 / 01 / 2012 22 / 01 / 2012 18 / 01 / 2012 11 / 01 / 2012 27 / 11 / 2011 14 / 11 / 2011 13 / 11 / 2011 |
Stormbreaker
How on earth did they wreck this one? A bulletproof cast and a proper budget and they forget to entertain the adults. Sack the juggler.
Stormbreaker is very much a kids' movie - only Bill Nighy and Mickey Rourke save the movie from being an utter waste of time for the adults. As for the kids, I expect the younger ones will lap it up, but anyone over, say, 14, will be disappointed that it doesn't live up to the trailer. Very much a missed opportunity, take the brats to see Cars instead. I enjoyed this film: I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: To enjoy this film you should be: a young girl.
|
||
I probably wouldn't mind so much if the trailers hadn't suggested that the audience would be treated with some respect
(like, for example, the Harry Potter movies do). Stormbreaker makes no attempt whatsoever to deviate from the teenage
girl market, leaving the rest of us to tut at the infantile storyline, moan at the shocking performances from professionals
who know much better (Sophie Okonedo, I'm looking at you) and gasp at the stunningly bad casting of Jimmy Carr (yes, the
smarmy presenter of "8 out of 10 Cats") as an MI6 agent! If they'd cast the late Richard Whiteley it couldn't have been
any less convincing. Stephen Fry, who I really want to like, is just not that good at acting, bless him, and the trite
and predictable dialogue he's forced to trot out as the Q-like chap doesn't help. I can't help thinking though, that most
of the movie's faults are down to director Geoffrey Sax, whose TV history is full of second-rate TV such as Bergerac and
Cannon & Ball (seriously!).
It's not all bad, though. Bill Nighy gets better with every performance he does, and this one is magnificent - perfectly
judged hamminess to bring the limp script to life and create the only laughs to the whole sorry affair. Mickey Rourke is
the only other star worthy of a mention, putting in a proper baddie turn rather than the silly kiddie stuff that the rest
of the cast seem content with. Alex Pettyfer is no revelation as the lead 14-year old superspy - he looks much older than
his classmates (he's actually 16) and has absolutely no screen presence, though I'm sure the predominantly prepubescent
fan base would disagree. Apparently he's already been axed for the sequel, which can only be an improvement.
The action sequences are very low-rent - whilst being relatively down-to-earth, they still manage
to be completely implausible - the worst of both worlds - culminating in a dangle-off-a-roof shot that would have looked
poor in a 1980s episode of Doctor Who. If the director had been confident enough to go for an all-out spoof, he may have
been able to pull it off, but as it stands it's a very poor kids' action movie that wouldn't look out of place on CBBC
alongside Tracy Beaker.
